It was too cold to work outside on the locos this past weekend so activities were confined to the shed.Terry D and John Cooke were working on a Reavell Rotary Vacuum Exhauster that has been fitted with replacement blades manufactured from a different material for assessment.Martin H was engaged in a bit of welding and fabrication to make a new cable stowage for the lifting gantry. No more excuses for leaving the cable lying across the floor now!

D6566 - The sloppy block holder and pin removed two weeks ago were taken to WS Restoration for refurbishment.On Sunday, Andy P cleaned the threads on the slack adjuster recently removed from the loco and fitted a new boot.From it’s appearance we were not sure at first whether it would be suitable for further use without a lot of work and if we would have to use the ready-to-go spare from the container instead but it came up ok and was tested with an air supply.Another spare Class 33 automatic slack adjuster obtained from Swanage last year was stripped down and its components cleaned. On Sunday it was re-assembled and tested and amazingly it worked!The smaller telescopic section from another old adjuster was used as it was in better condition.It now needs a new bellows fitted and new bushes manufactured for the mounting spigots and then will be available for further use. Thomas is painting the two sand ejectors and pipes that are currently off the loco.